Rumor Has It
by CeceTheFandomQueenie
Summary: Marinette smiled at the gentleman across the room, giving him a barely noticeable nod of her head as she fixed the polka-dotted mask on her face. It really was a shame that the famous "King's Diamond" was stolen, and by someone so incompetent too.


**Hey Lovelies! So this story was actually originated by an unknown person and I found it while doing homework a few months back. I absolutely loved the premise and decided to make my own AU based off of it. I really hope you enjoy what I did with it! And don't forget to let me know what you thought in the comments!**

Marinette smiled at the gentleman across the room, giving him a barely noticeable nod of her head as she fixed the polka-dotted mask on her face. She immediately moved from her place in the crowd and strode elegantly across the room, not toward the man, but toward a small woman, covered in a thick fox-fur coat.

"Lady Bourgeois," Marinette chirped brightly as she helped the other woman take off her luxurious coat. "or should I say Queen Bee." She gestured to the mask on the blonde woman's face. "What an immense pleasure to see you again, and so soon after your move across the Atlantic."

"Why, Ladybug," Lady Bourgeois returned, her lilting voice in sharp contrast to Marinette's softer, sweeter tone. "I certainly did not expect to see you at this gala affair—I thought you'd be traipsing through Eastern Europe or off on safari in Africa."

Marinette smiled coyly at Lady Bourgeois, as if to say, "Hush, don't go and tell my secrets to everyone in the room." She explained that her mother had become ill recently, so she had returned to Paris in order to help with the bakery and other sundry affairs of the home. She steered Lady Bourgeois toward a table nearby and pulled out two chairs so they could sit down for a chat.

"Normally, these fanfares don't draw my attention, but, with a new ambassador and an appearance by the beautiful Lady Bourgeois, I simply could not resist." Marinette chattered on for a few more minutes, filling in her friend on the who's who of the party: President and First Lady Stone; Ambassadors Lahiffe, Césaire, and Couffaine; and a variety of philanthropists and millionaires who normally ran in these circles.

Lady Bourgeois listened intently, sipping her drink and munching on the hors d'oeuvres that the tuxedo-clad waiter brought to the table.

"As I said before," Marinette continued on, "you were the person I really wanted to see. After all, how often does a down-home girl like me get to rub elbows with her newfound Parisian friend who just happens to own some of the most amazing jewelry around?"

Lady Bourgeois choked a little on the stuffed mushroom she was eating but recovered quickly, saying, "Yes, good jewelry is so hard to come by these days."

Marinette smiled knowingly, then said, "Considering that the famous King's Diamond was so recently stolen, I'm surprised you're brave enough to wear some of your finest out on the town this evening!"

"Well, my dear Ladybug, what does the title of Lady do for one, if she cannot flaunt her infinite wealth?" Saying this, Lady Bourgeois held out her arms, each clad with stunning diamond rings and matching bracelets for Marinette to admire. Marinette peered at the rings and laughed, exclaiming that the value of those rings combined probably neared that of the King's Diamond. "Oh, no, Ladybug, these little doodads could not compare with the cut, karat, and color of the King's Diamond!"

Seeming amazed at the amount of jewelry knowledge Lady Bourgeois possessed, Marinette placed both hands at the side of her face in childlike wonder. After a few minutes, the conversation steered itself to other matters, like marriage and finances. Once all the topics the two young women could cover had been broached, Marinette picked up her small, jeweled handbag and kissed Lady Bourgeois on both cheeks, as was the style at these parties.

She excused herself, indicating that she needed to use the restroom rather urgently, and made her way across the crowded room.

Reaching the bathroom door, Marinette veered suddenly to the left, avoiding the bathroom, but bumping into the man she had smiled at earlier in the evening. "Why, pardon me, Monsieur Noir," she said, grabbing his hand for support as she stumbled into him. He winked at her, allowing a moment for her to gain her balance, and then fell back a few steps.

"Always right on time, My Lady," he said, sounding more delighted than the moment seemed to merit. To passersby, the encounter would have seemed casual, quite harmless, in fact, but to Adrien and Marinette it was the culmination of months of hard work. Marinette gave Adrien a little wink of her own, then turned back through the crowd and slipped out the doors of the banquet hall.

Once outside, she jumped into a red sports car, pulled off her mask and hair ties so her shoulder length, jet-black hair could air out, and sped down the street toward her headquarters.

Back inside, Adrien watched Lady Bourgeois fumble through her fox-fur, a look of near terror on her face. He knew that his fellow agents would soon escort her out of the banquet hall, and he laughed to himself, saying, "She'll never understand how she lost what she had so easily stolen—what an amateur." With that, he too disappeared into the night, concealing a rather large diamond in his coat pocket, and knowing that Lady Bourgeois would never see it, him, or "Ladybug" again.


End file.
